Rail-cutter guide



` Feb. 3, 1925.

D. E. ANDERSON RAIL GUTTER GUIDE A Filed May 10, 1925 J'Jvrawl'an:

ATTORNEX Patented Fein., 3, 1925. l ,f?

S'IIES DAVID E. ANDERSON, 0F ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. P

RAIL-CUTTER GUIDE.

Application filed May i0,

To all whom t may concer/1%.',

Be it known that I, DAVID E. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Cutter Guides, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to means for guiding an acetylene torch while 1t is used for cutting off a railway rail, and the object is to provide a torch guide that will enable an operator to speedily and neatly cut a rail transversely.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of a piece of railway rail with my device secured upon it in position for operation.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the rail in Fig. 1 with a portion of the device broken away to expose the mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a right hand side elevation of Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 is a section on line 1-4 inFig. 3.

Fig 5 is a partly sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modification.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 6 designates a railway rail to be cut transversely in two by an acetylene torch. In order to guide such torch I secure upon the rail a guiding device composed of two clamping members 7 and 8 adapted to fit one at each side of the rail and having a flat arm 9 fitting into the side groove of the rail so as to aid in holding it steady, and vertical ribs 10 touching the web 11 of the rail and forming with the body of the member clearances 12 for the flame of the torch to spread into and thereby give the gas a proper chance to burn.

rIhe two members 7 and 8 have their top portion normally secured together at a joint 13 by a screw having a thumb-nut 14 and a cylindrical body 15 slidable and rotatable in a bore 16 in the parts. Said body has a reduced portion 17 threaded at 18 in the bottom of the bore and is further reduced at 19 and has a transverse pin 20 to prevent separation of the members.

In the operation of the device the members are secured in place on the rail adjacent the cutting line, as 21 in Fig. 3. The members being drawn tight against the rail by the screw 14, 15 and threads 18, the operator places the torch as 22 in Fig. 2 and while it is blazing as 23 he holds the torch in contact with the edge 24 of the device and 1923. serial ivo. 638,012.

moves it slowly along said edge until the flame has cut the rail in two.

The operator then removes the torch and turns the screw until the threaded portion 18 is free from the threadsin the member 8. rihis allows the members to be spread apart and removed from the rail. When the device is to be used again the members are placed as shown and the screwengaged at 18 and turned until the device is secured on the rail.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 I use a dowel pin 25 to prevent rotation of the members about the screw, andthe body 15 70 of the screw is a loose fit in the bore 16a while the end portion 26 of the body is threaded and fits snugly in said bore when moved into it. The member 8 has a slightly larger bore 16b in which may slide a guid- 75 ing collar 27 fixed at the end of the reduced portion 17*qu of the screw. In this case the part of the member 8 adjacent the member 7 carries the internal threads for the portion 26 of the screw. In this modi- 30 fied form the dowel pin 25 can never leave the member 7 because it is longer than the distance the collar 27 can move without striking the bottom of the bore 16h. This modified form makes the device easier -to handle and use as the two members 7 and 8 can move only directly to and from each other.

What I claim is 1. A rail cutter guide for blow pipes of the class described comprising two oppositely disposed clamp members having a continuous guiding edge in a common plane, lugs on said clamp members adapted to contact with a rail to be cut and holding the cutting guide portion of the clamps in spaced relation to the rail, means for clamping said members to the rail and slidably separate said members when the guide is to be removed from the rail.

2. The structure specified in claim 1, in which said slidable clamping means comprises two contiguous enlargements, one on each clamp member, said contiguous parts having' a continuous bore and one of them 105 having a screw-threaded portion at one end and concentric with its bore; clamping means consisting of a pin slidably inserted in said bore, a reduced portion at one end of said pin threaded to engage the firstmentioned threads of one of the clamp members, an enlarged shoulder portion on said pin adapted to engage one or said clamp members', and means adjacentl said shoulder for turning the pin when the threaded parts are engaged to clamp the guide members 0n the rail.

3. The structure specified in claim l, in which said slidabie clamping means coinprises two contiguous enlargements, one on each clamp member, said contiguous parte having a continuous bore and one of them having a serewfthreaded portion at one end and concentric with its bore; clamping means consisting of a pin siidabiyinsei-ted in said bore, areduced portion at one end of said pin threaded to engage the first mentioned threads ofone :of the Clamp members, an eniargedshouider portion on said pin adapted to engage one of said clamp members,a1 id means adjacent said shoulder for turning the pin when the threaded parts are engaged to Clamp the guide members on the rail; and an extension of said pin beyond its threaded part with means for iimiting the spreading of the clamp members.

In, testimony whereof afi/ix my signature.

nav-in n. ANDEifsoN. 

